“The thing about the Hamptons is that people are so proud of their beaches out there,” Leatherman said in an interview in advance of the release of his list. “People pick up their litter there, the bathrooms are clean; they provide good services.”

Leatherman, who goes by the nickname Dr. Beach, visited Main Beach earlier this month. He said unlike many beaches farther to the west and in New Jersey, the beaches on eastern Long Island saw less erosion and flooding from superstorm Sandy’s effects.

“Considering the magnitude of the storm, people will be very pleased to see that Main Beach is the way they remember it,” he said.

Leatherman, a professor at Florida International University in Miami, has visited beaches around the world and uses criteria like water and sand quality, as well as safety and environmental management, to compile his annual list. Once a beach reaches the pinnacle of No. 1, it is retired from future consideration, he said.

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falsewrote:

Nothing impressive about beaches on the East Coast. Muddy looking cold water, No white sandy. It's a water's edge. We don't need the crowds so we can keep the rest of the beaches a secret.

on May 24,2013 | 05:02AM

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Slowwrote:

Dr, Beach is the opposite of a secret keeper. He named Lanikai the top beach one year. The crowds arrived the next day and never left. I am a former Lanikai beachfront home owner and Dr. Beach is a worthless self-promoter.

on May 24,2013 | 06:23AM

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neighborhoodmolewrote:

That was in 1996, according to this list archived in the Wayback Machine (the current website does not list past winners anymore):
http://web.archive.org/web/20121101081100/http://drbeach.org/top10beaches.html

on May 24,2013 | 12:45PM

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alliewrote:

The article points out that the Hampton beaches are wellc ared for. Why do people out here wreck their beach parks and dirty the beaches? Odd really.

on May 24,2013 | 06:46AM

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Tom938wrote:

Local "AINOKEA" attitude.

on May 24,2013 | 07:16AM

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neighborhoodmolewrote:

Waimanalo was number 7 on his list last year, but I read he does not repeat beaches, so I wonder if that was a mistake to include it again this year? His website does not list the past years, but you can find them archived on the web under the Wayback Machine, for example, here is the 2012 list as it was seen in Janaury:
http://web.archive.org/web/20121101081100/http://drbeach.org/top10beaches.html